The Democracy Tree is a rain tree noted as the venue where 27 Perak state lawmakers from Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....

 comprising Democratic Action Party

Democratic Action Party

The Democratic Action Party, or DAP is a secular, multi-racial, social democratic Malaysian political party.The DAP is one of the three major opposition parties in Malaysia, along with the PKR and PAS, that are seen as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional coalition of parties...

, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia and Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Parti Keadilan Rakyat

The People's Justice Party , often known simply as KeADILan) is a centrist political party in Malaysia formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party...

, held an 'emergency assembly' on 3 March 2009. The tree was located about 100m from the Perak Darul Ridzuan building which houses the state assembly. The assembly was held under the tree the by the state assemblymen after being blocked by the police from entering the premises. The assembly was called impending the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis

2009 Perak constitutional crisis

The 2009 Perak constitutional crisis was a political dispute in Malaysia regarding the legitimacy of the Perak state government formed in February 2009. It began when three Pakatan Rakyat state legislators defected, causing a collapse of the state government...

. Dr. Zambry, from UMNO, and recently-suspended assembly secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri had claimed that the sitting was invalid because it did not have the consent of Sultan Azlan Shah

Azlan Shah of Perak

Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Shah Ghafarullah, GCB, KStJ is the current Sultan of Perak. He was the ninth Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 26 April 1989 to 25 April 1994...

.

Assembly

The 27 assemblymen who turned up – all from the Pakatan Rakyat – stood around V. Sivakumar, the speaker, who had donned his speaker's robe. The sitting convened at 10.20am.

Motions

Three motions were passed within 15 during the 'emergency assembly'. The motions are:

• to support Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful Mentri Besar, tabled by Titi Serong assemblyperson Khalil Idham Lim.
• to dissolve the State Assembly, tabled by Teja assemblyperson Chang Lih Kang.
• to adopt the order made by the Rights and Special Privileges Committee to suspend Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and his six executive councillors, tabled by Sitiawan assemblyperson Ngeh Koo Ham.

Plaque

On 8 March 2009, a plaque was subsequently placed by the assemblymen to commemorate the assembly sitting. Many local residents came to take photographs with the plaque and tree. However a few days later, the plaque was found vandalized repeatedly before finally removed by the Ipoh City Council (MBI).

On 22 March 2009, five pieces of the broken plaque destroyed by vandals were auctioned away by the Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat

Pakatan Rakyat or PR is an informal Malaysian political coalition. It currently controls four state governments while in opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional at the federal level....

to supporters. A total of RM42,900, excluding donations, was raised in the auction.

Aftermath

A DVD featuring the tree was released during ceramahs but it was subsequently banned. Tebing Tinggi assemblyman Ong Boon Piow was arrested for allegedly violating the Film Censorship Act 2002 for “manufacturing, circulating, distributing, and displaying the content of the DVD without first getting a ‘B’ certificate from the Film Censorship Board.